This book is the record of a debate that took place in the early tenth century between the famous Ismaili missionary Abu Hatim al-Razi and the even more celebrated Abu Bakr al-Razi , a physician and philosopher who was known to medieval Europe as “Rhazes.” These two were towering figures of premodern Islamic thought, and their debate over the dogmatic lines between Sunni and Shi’i theological positions serves to illuminate some of the most intellectually exciting topics of medieval Islamic culture. Abu Hatim, in particular, marshals evidence for his position from the Quran, the hadith, and pre-Islamic Arabic poetry as well as from the Jewish and Christian scriptures. This fresh, vivid debate still holds excitement for modern readers who are interested not merely in medieval Islam but in Christian thought as well.

Foreword to the Series Notes on Conventions Acknowledgments Translator's Introduction

Part OneChapter One: An account of what transpired between me and the heretic Chapter Two: Concerning the Five Eternals and the debate over imitation and independent investigationChapter Three: Concerning his argument that the five are eternal, with no other eternal except them, and the debate about time and space Chapter Four: That the world is created Part TwoChapter One: [On reason, religion, and imitation] Chapter Two: Returning to the subject of rational investigation and inquiry Chapter Three: A discussion of the phrase "profound reflection" Chapter Four: A discussion of contradiction Chapter Five: That when believers in religious law are asked for proof, they become abusive Chapter Six: His saying, "They are deceived by the imposing beards of these jackasses" Chapter Seven: His statement that the truth is buried very deep and falls totally silent Chapter Eight: His statement concerning feeble-minded men and women Part ThreeChapter One: Regarding his statement, "We shall now examine the speech of these people and its contradictory nature" Chapter Two: The Prophet's demeanor and virtues Chapter Three: Concerning the speech of prophets and their laws Chapter Four: Concerning parable and meaning Chapter Five: Concerning what the heretic stated that is in the Torah Part FourChapter One: A brief discussion regarding differences among so-called philosophers and the contradictions in their speech Chapter Two: Conflict among philosophers regarding principles Chapter Three: A summary of divergences among views of philosophers Chapter Four: Which of the two groups is more deceitful? Chapter Five: There is no divergence among prophets regarding principles Chapter Six: All religious laws are true, but falsehood has been mixed with them Part Five Chapter One: Further views of the heretic Chapter Two: On oppression and victory Chapter Three: The difference between miracles and signs Chapter Four: The mention of the signs of Muḥammad in revealed books Chapter Five: The signs of Muḥammad in Islam Part SixOn the matter of the Qur'ān Part SevenChapter One: Prophets as originators of the sciences and testators of philosophers Chapter Two: The origin of the stars and of astronomical observations Chapter Three: The origin of the science of pharmacology Chapter Four: Every knowledge stems from the First Sage

Notes to the English Text Glossary and Index Index of Scripture Verses

Review Quotes

Ilahiyat Studies

“The Proofs of Prophecy is an important contribution to the burgeoning body works in Islamic intellectual history, and as such, it would be of interest to both students and scholars of Islamic philosophy and comparative religion.”

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